flexible circuit

Researchers at Northwestern University have devised a new method of creating large volumes of high-quality graphene, and then printing flexible graphene patterns with an inkjet printer that are 250 times more conductive than previous attempts.

From the research lab that brought us stick-on electronic tattoos, and recently the stretchable battery, we now have the first electronic circuit that has been printed directly onto human skin. These sensors can directly measure skin hydration and temperature, and electric signals from muscle and brain activity.

This flexible circuit, roughly one ten-thousandth the thickness of a sheet of paper, is shaved off a wafer of silicon, and stuck onto a piece of plastic. Not only is this a huge step forward for small and portable computing, but the incredibly tiny size means big things for increasing the horsepower of existing devices without needing substantially larger power resources.

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